Ariège Author

Ha - brilliant advice Will re. the Stephen Clarke book! Certainly resonated with me when I was running a business. The rest of Will's advice is spot on too. But on a practical note, if you get as far as opening the cafe, look up a company called Patis-Servis. They supply pastries/croissants etc of exceptional quality. We used to use them and the guests adored their produce. Good luck!

Love the fact that we have this dilemma! Hopefully today will be the start of an amazing cycling year for the UK. Right, now where's my bike...

Hi Jimmy...this is going to be a long one! Unless your existing business is a chambres d'hôtes, I don't think it matters that you are restricting your restaurant to only your customers. You will still need to register with the relevant authorities. The best place to get information is from the department responsible for carrying out hygiene inspections - la Direction Départementale des Services Vétérinaires. When we opened our restaurant we had to get their approval for the kitchen layout etc before we opened - even though the restaurant had been run by a previous owner. Regarding surfaces etc - it's not as strict as you think. Tiled surfaces were okay, wooden surfaces not. But we went for IKEA stainless steel with wipe down cupboards - relatively inexpensive. The onus for protecting the cold-chain etc is now on the shoulders of the restaurant owner which means lots of paperwork but as it is EU wide, you can find links to it in English online. Just search for HACCAP and it will give you an idea of what you have to do. The bad news is that you will also have to do a course for the hygiene cert - microbiology and a hundred ways to poison your customers! The good news is that the Chambre de Commerce paid for it. They might also help you with the cost of the alcohol course. And on that topic, I wouldn't advise you to go non-alcohol even if it is possible. Alcohol is where you make the most profit! So it's worth asking your mayor if he/she will consider giving you a grace period before you have to take the alcohol awareness course - to give you time to get your French up to scratch. I've known that happen. Hope that helps - and yes I'm speaking from experience. 6 years running an auberge in the Pyrenees! Good luck, Julia PS. NormanH's links are brilliant.

Mentioned this book a while back - Pure by Andrew Miller. It's set in the turbulent days of Paris just before the revolution and I loved it. Sort of a modern Dickens set in France! Rich, evocative and pulls no punches. Highly recommend it. Anyone else read it?

Thanks, Cendrillon - looks really interesting. Have added it to a growing list!

Really looking forward to reading this - have had it on my wish-list for a while and will be buying it in the New Year. Good to know you thought it worth while although I can imagine parts of it will be hard to read.

Thanks for sharing that, Fay - brilliant way to start a Thursday morning!

Love it! 'bête seller' is pure genius. Thanks, Pickles.

Whoops! Sorry Cendrillon - must have missed that. But it is worth mentioning twice...

Not a book but two excellent programmes on Radio 4 about the Freedom Trail (Chemin de la Liberte), the path across the Pyrenees which was used by downed airmen and Jews who were fleeing occupied France. Still available to listen: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017ltk5 Fascinating for anyone interested in the Resistance.

Hi Rob, I'm sure there are lots of people on this forum who can give you advice but it would probably help if you disclosed a bit more about what you are doing. From what you have said so far, all I can say is that a SARL does require some capital investment as far as I know - see the link for more: http://www.apce.com/pid589/sarl.html As for social contributions, any employer, whether registered under the SARL regime or not, has to pay contribution sociales for all employees. I'm guessing that what concerns you here is how you 'pay' the 4 adults who will be living/working at the gite complex. That is what you really need to get right. Try doing some research in the archives of this forum and also look at some of the books available in English on setting up businesses in France - see the Living France bookshop. Hope this is a start for you!

On this topic - has anyone read Pure by Andrew Miller? Debating about buying it for a Christmas present so any feedback welcome.

For those of you who know the area, the Auberge du Haut Salat in Seix is under new ownership and the food is AMAZING! 18 euros for a menu that should really cost well over 25. Can't recommend it highly enough. And for those of you who don't know the area, head for St. Girons in the Ariege and then go up into the mountain valley of Seix. It's well worth a day trip for the views alone.

Haven't ventured much into Aude (being an Ariegeoise!) but last Sunday I had the pleasure of dining at le Brantalou restaurant, part of the Domaine de l'Espinet Vacances, just outside Quillan. It was superb. Great setting, good food and reasonable prices. Totally worth the 2hr journey!

Sorry off topic but Russethouse - I sent you a pm the other day on a different topic. Can you let me know if you got it? Funny feeling it might be floating in the ether... Cheers

Excellent advice from Euro Trash - I've just got back from the French Property Exhibition in London where I gave a couple of talks on the basics of setting up a business in France. And I lost count of the number of people I spoke to who were going to register as AE because it was 'easier'. Like a lot of people are saying on here, the easiest option in terms of regime is not always the most profitable... So get some professional advice.

I overheard two French guests discussing the buffet at a B&B in Salisbury recently. They were totally bemused by the Shredded Wheat. As for what we served when running a hotel in the Pyrenees: croissants, pain-au-chocolat, juice, tea/coffee/ bread and jams as basic and fresh fruit in season from the neighbours' trees. All for 5 euros. 13 euros just seems extortionate.

Devoured all of Mary Stewart's books when I was younger. She's obviously still appealing to readers out there as her publisher, Hodder, re-released all of her novels this year. Just shows, the old ones are the best...

As an ex-hotel owner, I can assure you that there are a lot of regulations and they are currently getting tougher. When we bought our auberge in 2004, a smoke alarm wasn't even mandatory. New regs brought in as of 2006 now stipulate that there must be a wired smoke alarm system. Plus fire doors. The best place to get an overview is the local Chambre de Commerce, or if your French is up to it, try google.fr. There are a lot of companies now offering the obligatory fire prevention courses for hotel owners and they often have a list of the prescribed measures. There are many factors to bear in mind: number of rooms, number of floors, occupancy numbers... And as for the disabled access, yes it is now being enforced but there was some leniency for older buildings. And quite a lot of the regs clashed with the new fire regs...! All of this was supposed to be brought in for 2012 but the last I heard, the hotel lobby were pushing for a delay. This link will give you a good start: http://www.lhotellerie-restauration.fr/hotellerie-restauration/Articles/2006/2997_05_Octobre_2006/Vous_avez_5_ans.htm Hope that helps.

A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. It started my wanderlust which hasn't abated since.

You're on! But don't hold your breath as I have a huge 'to read' pile waiting for when I get a bit of time off work. Love Pointless too by the way. Used to use it as a breather when we were running our auberge.

Not even tempted by the more 'thriller' type books, Snowdrops and Derby Day, RH? I think I'll read them just because they are so different to what normally gets longlisted...apparently what happens when a former spy gets to be chair of the judges! Great idea with the book club by the way!

These threads on kindle are brilliant and I think I'm going to succumb - by experimenting on my MIL first! As someone with poor eyesight, she will love the option to enlarge the text and the weight will be less than a full size hardback. On another note, this was posted on another forum: http://bibliobs.nouvelobs.com/actualites/20110727.OBS7748/un-monde-sans-libraire.html Interesting article on how the French publishing industry is feeling the downturn like everywhere else. But the reasons given for it are unique... And no mention of the looming threat of digital sales.  

Anyone ever read any books by the French crime writer Bernard Minier? Just read that he is to be published in English - which means I might get through one of his books in a year... Although, as the English translation of Iced isn't due out until 2013, I just have time to read the original! Link follows: http://www.thebookseller.com/news/mulholland-publish-french-crime-writer.html

Thanks Russethouse. As for the kindle price - you quite rightly say that it is out of my hands but I do know that Hachette (the parent company of my publisher Hodder) are one of the big 4 publishers who have decided to fix the price of e-books under what is known as the Agency Model. Basically, this means Amazon is simply a supplier of ebooks for these publishers, not a retailer. It cannot change the prices. Then there is VAT charged on top... See the link below for a better explanation. http://www.mcgrellis.net/2011/01/e-books-agency-pricing-and-vat/ The system is widespread across Europe and in the States but there is an EU investigation into it - Office of Fair Trading type of thing. They have already raided the offices of the top publishers in France - notably not in a dawn raid but in a mid-morning, get-it-over-before-lunch, raid! I think all authors are waiting to see what will happen next. Anyway - hope you enjoy L'Auberge!